


Redemption

by AnnieVH



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Child Abuse, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Pre-Episode, mother's little helper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 10:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12107121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieVH/pseuds/AnnieVH
Summary: When the Black Fairy asks you for something, you do as you are told.





	Redemption

**Author's Note:**

> A conversation between the Black Fairy and Roderick before Gideon's 28th birthday. Referenced child abuse.
> 
> Beta: MaddieBonanaFana

 

The men shoved him through a door more roughly than they had to and Roderick landed awkwardly on both feet, his one good eye barely able to see in the dark room. Or maybe the room wasn't dark at all. It was hard to tell these days.

He cradled his right arm closer to his chest. Whatever it was that the Black Fairy wanted with him, he hoped she'd at least spare him the upper limbs. He wasn't holding his breath though. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was it, this was where he'd meet his end. He was already too old – something around twenty, he supposed, he couldn't be sure – and the only boys who lived past twenty were those Madam intended to make into warriors. Roderick doubted that was the case. His right arm was useless and, as of six meals ago, he was also practically blind.

He should've paid attention, why hadn't he paid attention?

“You should eat.”

The Black Fairy's voice was soft, as always, but Roderick still startled. He hadn't– _couldn't_ see her at first but now he could make out a blurry, sinuous shape a few feet in front of him.

“Aren't you hungry?”

Roderick shook his head, though he was starving. He'd been summoned just as his shift was ending and he was in between meals. The Black Fairy wasn't in the habit of starving the miners, since weak children were hardly suited for labor, so this summon could only mean something terrible. It meant he'd finally outlived his usefulness.

“No?” she said. “What a pity, I made you a special dinner.”

“I'm sorry, Madam,” he said, for no reason other than custom.

The Black Fairy giggled. “What for, dearie? For not being hungry? Or is it for lying?”

She moved so fast that the only reason Roderick didn't run away was because he knew it would only be worse if he did. He shivered when she held up his chin. Now, he could see her face more clearly, not perfectly, but well enough to see that she was smiling at him – not that that was a sign of anything, she was always smiling.

“You're supposed to report your injuries to Miriam,” she said. “Have you forgotten?”

He hadn't, but children with lesser wounds were sent to Miriam and never returned. With something this severe, he wouldn't stand a chance.

“'tis nothing, Madam,” Roderick said, beginning to shake.

“You're _blind_ , dearie,” she said, as though the discovery amused her. “Or you're turning blind, anyway. What was it? Was it an itsy bitsy spider?”

“I-I don't- I wasn't-” he stammered. There were no excuses, though. He should have known better by now. He knew that, if a spider went anywhere near you, you didn't slap it away. You were supposed to stand still and pray that it didn't sting you. But it had slipped off the ceiling and landed on his bad shoulder and he had reacted on instinct. Next thing he knew, there was venom in his eyes. The right one went dark immediately. The left one was fading slowly but he knew it wouldn't last, and when his sight was finally gone...

“I can still work,” he pleaded. “I-I promise, Madam. I can work, please-”

“Not like this, you can't.”

“Madam, please, I-”

Searing pain burned in his eyes for a moment and Roderick thought he was dead. That was it, the end of his miserable life. But then he blinked and his blindness was gone. The Black Fairy was standing in front of him, her teeth displayed in a mockery of happiness.

“There, isn't it much better now?”

He stood still, at a loss for words.

She walked to a nearby table where a small banquet had been laid.

“Are you sure you don't want to eat?” she insisted, taking her seat and indicating the one across from her.

Roderick still didn't know what to do or what to say, so he obeyed her. It was safer like this. Besides, he was starving and he'd never been allowed to have to much food at once before.

“I see your arm hasn't improved,” she remarked as he kept his right arm flat on the table and struggled to eat only with his left.

“It never healed right, Madam,” he said. “Not after-”

He swallowed the rest of his sentence. The Black Fairy only smiled more. Roderick had assumed she wouldn't remember breaking it at all. It had been so many years ago. But now, looking at her, he could see that she did. He wondered if the memory of his agony amused her just as much now as it had when he was just a boy.

“I can still work,” he repeated.

“I know. You're quite good at what you do.”

What he did was inspect rocks, to tell which ones were good to be turned into dust and which ones were worthless.

“That's what alerted me to your eyes,” she said. “Your work has not been up to standards these last three days.”

“I'm sorry. I was-”

“Scared?”

He didn't dare move, not even to nod in agreement.

She leaned closer. “Do you truly think I'd be as heartless as to kill my best worker just because he, _unfortunately_ , lost his eyes?”

The affection in her tone didn't fool him. He'd seen her do much worse for lesser reasons.

“You poor thing, I wouldn't dare. Try the pudding, please. It's delicious.”

Roderick continued to eat, aware that he wouldn't have another chance like this later. When he was satisfied, she asked, “Wine? I believe you're old enough.” And then she laughed as if Roderick not knowing his own age was something funny.

“This isn't a drink for children,” she explained, pouring the wine into a glass. “And it's not something I share with just anyone. But you're a special one, Roderick. You're useful.”

“Thank you, Madam,” he muttered.

He didn't enjoy the taste of wine but she kept staring at him from her seat until he drained the entire glass.

“There, isn't it good?”

Roderick nodded but hoped she wouldn't pour him another glass.

“I have a favor to ask, Roderick,” she said. “And I can only ask it of my most trustworthy boy.”

“Whatever you need, Madam.”

On the other side of the table, her eyes seemed to gleam.

“So obedient,” she said, rejoicing in his subservience. “What a good boy you are. You remember my son, of course. You used to be very close when you were children.”

Roderick was surprised she brought the subject up at all. The moment she'd dragged him out of his cell to be whipped was the last time he was allowed to speak to Gideon at all. It'd had been a different time and it felt like the life of someone else – someone with two good arms and a sliver of hope. During the day, Gideon was taken to his lessons while he was led to the mines with the other children, but during the night, they would talk to each other through the bars of their cells.

It wasn't a normal occurrence. Gideon didn't talk to the other children. He didn't know their names or read them stories or promise to keep them safe. But Roderick's cell was close enough to him that they could rely on each other, even if just for a little while.

They'd been close enough for Roderick to beg for his help when the Black Fairy took him away – and then to be heartbroken when Gideon didn't come to his rescue.

They hadn't talked to each other since but he'd gotten a glance of Gideon sometimes when he came down to the mines, watching this boy who'd once been his friend turn into something much taller and much colder. The Black Fairy had said he was never going to become a hero and she was doing her best to keep that promise.

“Well?” she asked, becoming impatient by his silence.

“I remember him, Madam, yes,” Roderick answered quickly.

“I hope you're not still mad at him?”

Roderick was confused at the question for a moment. Was she asking how he felt? What sort of answer was she expecting? If she wanted the truth, well, he couldn't remember ever being mad at Gideon, not even then. Heartbroken, yes, he remembered that, but not mad.

“No, I could never be mad at him, Madam.”

“Good. Then you are going to do me a favor, yes?”

Roderick nodded. What else was there to do?

The Black Fairy slid something to his side of the table. A key.

“This is the key to my vault. I need you to take it.”

He did so, shoving it into his pocket.

The Black Fairy waited. When the question didn't come, she said, “Won't you ask me why?”

“It's not my place to ask, Madam.”

She smiled again, larger than before. “You see, this is why you've been with me for so long, dearie. Most boys, they become rebellious and unpleasant as they grow old but you didn't. You've only grown... compliant.”

Roderick swallowed a knot in his throat. He didn't know what “compliant” meant but the boys who had grown into soldiers liked to call him a wimp and a coward, so perhaps it meant something along those lines.

He said, “Thank you, Madam,” in a tiny voice.

“My son is coming to a very special turning point in his life. He's turning twenty eight years old in a couple of days.”

The number hit him like a mine collapsing on his head. If Gideon was twenty eight then... didn't that make him twenty five? That meant he'd spent sixteen years in that mine, looking at rocks and trying to survive while children grew into bullies or disappeared every other night. He wasn't sure because time was hard to tell in this place, but that seemed like a lot of it.

The Black Fairy continued, “I need you to help me... test him.”

“Madam?”

“We're going to tell a little lie, you and I. We're going to pretend you've stolen my key.”

“I don't understand.”

“It's very simple. I want to see what he will do. I want to see if he can be trusted before I send him out on his mission.”

Roderick stared at her, confused. “But why does it have to be me? Surely one of your men-”

“They won't do,” she said. “You're the only one who can give him the one thing every hero wants.”

When she offered no explanation, Roderick tried, “What would that be, Madam?”

“Redemption,” she said, and she seemed to savor that word. “Gideon, he's not a hero, but he wants to be one.” The Black Fairy shook her head in disapproval. “It's rather childish. I need him to grow up and focus on his mission. This is what he was prepared for his whole life.”

“But... Madam, I don't...” he said, very carefully. “I don't see why I must be the one-”

“Because,” the Black Fairy said, and Roderick could tell her patience was running thin, “my son feels guilty. He wishes he could've saved you from me all those years ago.”

Roderick didn't know what to say. He'd assumed Gideon had forgotten him after so many years.

“I need you to offer him the absolution he desperately needs,” she continued. “And if he truly is my loyal son, then he won't be tempted by your forgiveness. But if he falters...” her smile faded. “Well, that is to be seen.”

“Madam, I- we haven't talked- I wouldn't know what to say.”

“You don't have to know. You just have to remember. Do you understand?”

Roderick thought about what she was saying, the key weighing heavily in his pocket now. He didn't think about it often because hope was a dangerous thing in a place like this, but he'd always believed someone might come to their rescue and defy the Black Fairy – and that someone would probably be Gideon. He'd always been stronger than Roderick in every way and he might have failed in the past, he was a grown man now. If anyone could break free from the Black Fairy's clutches, it would be him.

For the first time since he'd been brought to the Dark Realm, Roderick felt the urge to fight back and say he wouldn't help her manipulate her son. Gideon had always wanted to be brave and heroic like the mother he'd been taken from, to prey on his dreams was perhaps the worst thing he could possibly do to him.

Roderick wasn't like Gideon, though. He wasn't brave or a hero. He was – what was the word she'd used? - _compliant_.

“What do you want me to say, Madam?” Roderick asked.

His answer seemed to please the Black Fairy, who leaned even closer and began to tell him her plan. With a heavy heart, Roderick lowered his head with practiced fealty and tried not to listen to his own guilt.

 


End file.
